Mold for making glass sign plates



Oct. 27,1925. 1,559,394

' J. H. WILLIAMS v HOLD FOR MAKING GLASS SIGN PLATES Filed w 4. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 T==l Y flair-,2

ni xk sw I I /X INVENTIORJ 1 Z5, a m 2.,

Oct- 27; 1925.

J. H. WILLIAMS HOLD FOR MAKING GLASSSIGN PLATES Filed May 4. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR: V @sl'aiflzf7/lb'ma;

, ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 27, 192 5.

' J'OSIAH H. WILLIAMS, 0']? BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

MOLD FOR MAKING GLASS SIGN PLATES,

Application filed m 4,

T 0 all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, J OSIAH H. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Molds for Making Glass Sign Plates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mold for use in making glass sign plates of that kind adapted for use in illuminated signs, such plates consisting usually of rectangular or oblong rectangular glass sheets of plain, opalescent or prismatic glass bearing sign letters or characters in relief and designed to be properly assembled in a sign box or casing to produce the desired sign, a suitable light giving element or elements being placed behind the sign plates to cause the light to show therethrough and render the sign visible at night.

Sign plates of this character have heretofore been made either by press-molding the individual heat-softened plates, already formed of glass, between dies having surfaces to produce the sign character in relief thereon, or by applying pressure by means of a hand tool to portions of the softened glass overlying sunken character-forming sur faces of a die. Such plates so produced bear a sign letter, character or other device .appearing in relief on its outer or front face and having a corresponding depression on its inner or rear face. These methodsof manufacture require the use of sheet glass already formed and which must be heated and softened for the formation of the sign character therein, two separate manufacturing methods thus being necessary inmaking the sign plates from an original glass batch. Such methods of manufacture are, therefore, comparatively costly not only because of the two separate manufacturing processes referred to, but also because of the slowness of manufacture of the glass plates themselves and limited number which may be turned out in'a given working period. An objection to the sign plates themselves produced .bythese methods is that, in the formation of the sign characters, the glass is stretched and the character portions per se thinned out relatively to the body of the plate, as a result of which the plates are liable to become easily cracked-or broken in transportation or while being handled, or'from expansion 1923. Serial No. 636,669.

and contraction, which, on account of the price at which the plates are sold, is an item of importance to shlpping concerns, sign makers and others handling or using the product.

One object of myinventionis to provide a moldwherein a large number of sign plates may be made in a single operation directly from the crude glass by the blowing process, whereby the steps of manufacture are simplified and reduced, and whereby a greater number of sign plate making opertime and a larger number of'sign plates made on each working operation, allowing such plates to bemade with greater ease and ations may be performed within a given' facility, in greater quantities and at much less cost. 7

A further object of the invention is to provide a mold in which a multi-sided' bottle may be blown, each side of which bottleforms one or more sign plates adapted to be separa'ted'by division of the sign bearing portions of the glass from each other, and v in which the glass plates so produced are also so formed as'to facilitate their separation from each other and to furnish plates which are. of maximum strength and not liable to be easily broken or cracked.

Astill further object of the invention is to provide a mold which, by reason of its construction, allows ready and convenient application and removal ofinterchangeable' die plates for forming different sign characters, which is also adapted to be easily and quickly closed for use and opened for removal of a formed bottle, and which admits of the production of a maximum number of sign plates within a given working period.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists of the features of con struction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which c Figure 1 is a front elevation of a"- mold embodying my invention, showing the same as it appears in closed condition.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the closed mold. a

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the mold taken on line 4%l of Figure 3.

Figu e 5 is a ve t cal se t on h ugh t mold taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is horizontal section on the Figure 7 is a similar view of the mold as opened to permit removal. of the blown bottle.

Figure 8 is a vertical section through the bottle removed from the mold and as it appears before subdivision.

Figure 9 is a horizontal section on line 9-9 QfFig'ure 8.

Figure 10 is a view ofa completed double These mold sections 2, 3 and 4t are provided at or near their meeting edges with hingeknuckles or eyes 5; engaging supporting posts or rods 6 whereby the mold' sections are hmgedly connected to permit the sections 3 and lto be swungfinwardly.and outwardly for the purpose of; opening and closingthe' mold body. The sections 8 and 4. are adapt-e'dto ride upon and to be supported by the'ba'seplate at all points. in their open and closed positions. The postsor rods 6 are preferably fitted at. theirilower ends in slots 7 in' the base-plate'so as to allow themto be pushed straight back a distance wl'ie'n the mold sections 3" and 4t are swung outwardly to the limit of their'arcs of movement, in order to enable the mold to be-opened full wide and shifted on the base plate so as to allow the formed bottle,

made hereinafter described, to clear-the mold and to be freely and easily released and' removedL A cover,.consisting; of two sections 8 and 9, is' provided for closing the top of the moldbody, and said-cover sections 8 and; 9 are provided at the rear thereof with hinge-knuckles or eyes 10 engaging .a pintle 11 on the rear mold body section 2, so as toadapt thesaid cover sections to'be swung laterally to open .and .closed positions. The cover sections are shaped to form a shoulderlcavitv 12 and neck open ing 13', as shown. The free edges of the body sections 3 and a and cover. sections 8' and 9 are provided with suitable operating handles 14, whereby they maybe conven iently opened and. closed, and suitable latches 15 are provided for cooperation with said handles for'holding the mold bodyand cover sections securely connected. in closed position; The abutting 1 3095; of the free edges of the mold bodyand cover sections may also, if desired. be provided with dowel pins 16 and dowel seats 17 to guide them accurately into registering relationship.

The mold sections when closed form a mold chamber of any suitable angular form, that is, having any suitable number of angularly related sides or surfaces, and in which, for the purposes of this invention, the number of angular sides or surfaces is exactly" double thatcmployed for the production of a given number of panels or sign plate molding sides; In the construction shown, for example, the mold chamber'is dodecahedron shaped, being formed with six plate'formingsides or surfaces18, which are relatively-wide and'extendthe full depth of the mold chamber,- and an equal number of narrower brealr-line=formingsides-or surfaces 19Wl1l0l1 are"arranged between and intersect the surfaces--18 and also-eXtenct-the fulldepth of the mold chamber. The sides 18 are recessed for their full-width and depth to receive forming dies- 20,t-he func tion of which is to form and=impart-the desired configurationto the sign plate producing sides ofthe bottleto be blown, while the well deiinedbut considerably narrower sides 19 are designed andare soarranged with IQlRtCiOD' CO the die faces-as to =produce thinned corner angles at 'the intersection or points of uncture of SLlOl1S1gIl' 'pl2Lt6 produclng sides 1n order'to facilitate and ensure a clean vertical separation-ofthe sign plates from one another. lVhile a mold with. six sign plate forming 'sides and six break 'oint oroducin sides is-shown it is to be understood that theinvention is not i in 'any manner' limited thereto, as the number ofsuch sides may-be varied accord1ng=to the size of'the bottle to be blown and the number of 'signplate producing surfaces to be produced in a bott'leof any given size.

Extendil'i'g upwardly from the base-plate 1 is a central bossQl preferably of'circular' outline and which constitutes the bottom of the mold chamber. This boss or mold bottom is provided with a recess 2210 receive a bottom die-23"adapted for forming one or more sign;plate-producing panels in* the bottom of'the blown glass bottle, thus enof glass to the minimum. The lower-edges of the'mold sections 2,3 undelare cut-"away toprovide outer portions which *bear' upon the base-plate 1 and nmenportions 25:

access of glass thereto fromthe mold Cl1zi1nber. 21 and'inner faces-of the portions 2% of the mold sections-may be beveled or undercut If desired, the peri-pheryof' the bossabling'practically all portionsof-"the bottle: blown tobe utilized'in order toreduce waste between the bottom 21" and die againstfor lapping engagement when the mold secthereon,

tions are closed to form a tight joint and lock the mold sections against relative upward displacement. The mold, constructed as above described, is adapted for the formation in its chamber of a blown bottle conforming in shape and size to the shape and dimensions of the chamber, which bottle is designed to be subdivided to provide sign plates of definite shape and dimensions, as

hereinafter described.

The dies 20 fit snugly and wholly within their receiving recesses in the sides 18 and are removably secured therein by screws or other proper fastenings 26. The inner faces of these dies at their lateral margins intersect the lateral margins of the sides 19, and hence said dies and sides 19 provide a bottle body forming surface which is continuous or without break, i. e., without inwardly jutting die projections, entirely around the same. The said inner face of each die is provided with sunken or depressed portions in the form of grooves 27 delineating one or more letters. or whatever characters it is desired to produce in glass. Two or more die members bearing the same or different character forming grooves may be fitted, one above the other, in each recess, or a single die member, extending the full depth of the recess, may be fitted there in and such single die member may be provided with depressions for forming a single letter or character or two or more letters or characters. In the present instance, I have shown each die member 20 provided with two superposed letter or character forming impressions, adapting the same to form a glass panel composed of two superposed sign plates adaptedto be separated from each other on a transverse line. The die member 23 has a flat upper forming face provided with one or more character forming depressions or grooves 27'. The die members 20 are of interchangeable type and are adapted to be slidably fitted within and removed from their receiving grooves when the cover sections 8 and 9 are swung to open position, and to permit of their ready insertion and extraction they are provided in their upper edges with undercut grooves or recesses 28 for engagement of. suitable manipulating hooks or tongs there with. The die member 23 is provided with similar tool receiving recesses 28 for the same purpose, which recesses 28 are normally covered by the mold sections 3 and a when in closed position and exposed when. said mold sections are swung outwardly or opened.

In the operation of the. device, dies for forming a hollow glass body or bottle, having the desired separable sign plates formed are fitted in the mold and the mold While heatedto the desired temperature.

the mold is being heated the workman or glass-blower takes'a batch of plastic glass upon the end of a blow-pipe and partially expands the same by blowing, after which the batch of glass. is inserted in the mold chamber and the mold closed, the glass batch being suspended within the 'mold chamber from the end of the blow-pipe which extends through the neck opening 13 inthe mold top or cover. The mold being closed, and the sections thereof lockedfirmly in assembled relation, the workman blows to expand the plastic glass in all directions into bottle form, so

into the pipe so as that the glass entirely fills the interior of the mold and is pressed against the faces ofthe dies and the sides or surfaces 19 and within the character forming depressions 2,7 and 27. A hollow body or bottle 29 is thus produced, having an annular series of panels, a bottom panel 32 formed by the bottom die 23, which is marginally conor neck 35. Upon the completion of this bottle blowing operation, the mold is opened and the bottle removed and subdiangularlyrelated sides or sign forming panels 30, formed by the dies 20, connectingv webs 31 between the lateral edges of said vided for the separation and production of the component parts thereof formingindividual sign plates.

An important part of my invention resides 19, whereby sign plates of a novel form and possessing meritorious features are produced, and whereby thinned break'line margins or joints between the individual side plates are produced, facilitating their sepcenters of these die surfaces lie closer to the,

center of the mold chamber than their lateral margins, the distance between the axisl of the mold chamber and the center of'the ice in the form and relative arrangement of the. faces of the d es and the angular surfaces.

die plate, and the lateral margins of said plate and thesurfaces 19, gradually increasing on radial'hnes. As a result, each sign plate or panel 30 produced is thickest at its center, as indicated at 36, and, as its inner face is convexly curved, it gradually diminishes in thickness towards its marginal edges, where it is the thinnest, due to the gradual increase in outward expansion ofthe glass from the center line toward the marginal lines of each panel. The thin marginal portions of adjacent panels, which are thinnest at the web lines 31 formed by the surfaces 19, provide weakened break-line breaking or cracking means, with a minimum amount of time and labor and without -liability of breaking or otherwise injuring the panels. Where two or more superposed sign plates are formed by each panel made by one and the same die 20, the die is provided with a supplementary horizontal transverse groove or recess 37, into which the glass will be formed to provide a corresponding weakened break-lineportion 38 between the sign plates on the panel. Siniilarly, depressions 39 are formed in the dies and ,mold surfaces at the angles of intersection of the bottle body forming'portions and bottle bottom and top or shoulder forming portions, allowing the glass to expand to produce theweakened break-line portions 33 between the bottom panel 32 and lower edges of the sign panels and weakened portions 40 between the upper edges of the sign panels 30 and the shoulder In the operation of snbdivi 'ng the bottle,

i the blowing tool is first cracked oil the neck 35, after which the shoulder is removed from the bottle body along the line .410, whereupon the remainder of the bottle may be separated along the weakened lines through any prescribed course of procedure found in practice tobe advisable according to the size of the bottle and nuniber of snbdivisions to be made. The construction described lends itself very well to the subdivision of the bottle, in a ready, cquick and convenient manner, by means ofan ordinary cracking process, in which a hot wire is laid along the line of separation to heat up the glass and then the glass is chilled in any suitable -manner, with the result that it breaks along the previously heat-ed line. This method will allow very clean cuts to be secured, but shouldany roughened surfaces be left upon the edges of the individual panels, these may be removed bygrhi'ding or otherwise. Where the bottom panel 32 is formed with a single letter, character, symbol or other device, it-may, for special purposes,.be allowed to remain in the substantially hexagonalform it is produced,.or

it may be trimmed down in any suitable manner to any prescribed size.

lVheneach panel 30'forms two sign plates, the panels 30 may first be separated from each other along vertical lines, producing the double sign plate shown in Figures 10 and ll, after .which each panel may be subdivided along the weakened break-line 38 to produce the individual panels 41.

A sign plate 41 produced according tomy invention will be provided with an outer fiat or plane display face 42 having the sign letter or character 43 in relief thereon, this face, which is formed directly by the smooth die face, being sufficiently smooth and polisiied for use without further treatment. The inneror rear face of this die. plate will be eonvexly curved vertically and trans versely, usually to a greater degree in the transverse than in the vertical direction, said plate being thickest at the center and thinning toward its margins and being smooth and having a finish similar to that of a lire-polish finish. as a result of the blowing action described. Such construction, in addition to providing the thin .webs 31 between adjoining plates to facilitate their separation, ensures the reflection of the sign light from the rear from one letter to another and the radiation of. the light rays through the thin portions so as to-give effective illumination to the letter .or character in relief on the outer face of the sign platev Such construction also provides. a sign plate which, while not abnormally .thick at any point, and not abnormally thin ,at its margins, is thin enough at all points'foreihcient transmission of light while thick enough to istand rough handling in service, withliab ility of cracking or breaking in nsit or while beinghandled, in .which iect loss from breakage is considerably reared over other sign plates of that charztjttl having" si n characters which are in re lief on their outer side and hollow on their inner side and formed by stretching outwardly a portion of the body of glass, and which are therefore thinner and .of less strength than the body of .the plate itself. Fiu'thermore, as the inner face of. my glass sign plate is polished and smooth-surfaced, it will, when installed ,in a sign, not readily retain dust and will allow dust collected to le r adily washed off by rain water. lily sign plate is thus. advantageous in this respect over sign platesof the character heretofore produced which have more or less rough inner faces, due to their method of manufacture, allowing dust to collect and interfere with the transmissionof light rays. Hence by the mode of manufacture hereindescribed a glass sign plate may be produced which ensures long and satisfactory service and a reduction of waste caused by breakage.

By means of my improved mold, it will be seen that on each working operation a bottle capable of being subdivided to produce a plurality of sign plates will be made, allowing a very large number to be turned out from one and the same mold within a working day, ensuring production of such glass signs in a ready and convenient mani am aware of the fact that it has heretofore been proposed to produce sign letters as such by biowinga multisided bottle in a mold, having a blow-chamber with forming sides corresponding in mmber to the sides of the bottle to be blown, suchmold sides being provided with dies having acting surfaces of less dimensions than said mold sides and jutting inwardly therefrom, each die being designed to produce a glass letter convex on its outer side and depressed or hollowed on its inner side, the glass sheet surrounding the letter being stretched to an extreme uniform thickness from all sides toward the margins of the letter in order that the entire bottle side or panel produced may be broken away beyond the margins of.

the letter. The production of such sign letters as such, however, requires the use of a mold in which the glass is expanded outward radially beyond the line of the character forming portion of the die in order to produce the uniformly thinned glass sheet referred to, in which respect such prior mold structure differs essentially from my mold construction in which the dies are flush with the mold sides and operate to produce solid letters in relief upon a comparatively thick sheet of glass capable of use as a sign plate, for which obviously the prior product mentioned is not adapted. Furthermore, with my construction the sign plate is solid at the center and thinned gradually toward its edges and is thinned to an easilyfracturable condition at its edges only. Other important differences in the mold structures and products thereby produced will be apparent from the foregoing description setting forth in detail the characteristic features of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. A mold for blowing glass bottles having character bearing sides separable from each other to form sign plates, said mold having a forming chamber provided with angularly related bottle side forming walls of a predetermined width and relatively narrower corner angle forming walls disposed between adjacent bottle side forming walls and arranged at oblique angles thereto, each bottle side forming wall being provided with a character molding die surface and a flat die surface extending beyond said character molding die surface to and intersecting adjacent corner angle forming walls.

2. A mold for blowing glass bottles having character bearing sides separable from each other to form sign plates, said mold having a forming chamber provided with angularly related bottle side forming walls of a predetermined width and relatively narrower corner angle forming walls disposed between adjacent bottle side forming walls and arranged at oblique angles thereto, each bottle side forming wall being provided with a sunken character molding die surface lying within the plane of said Wall, and a flat die surface extending beyond said character molding die surface to and intersecting adj acent corner angle forming walls.

3. A mold for blowing glass bottles hawing character bearing sides separable from of a predetermined. width and relatively narrower corner angle forming :walls disposed between ad acent bottle side forming walls and arranged at oblique angles thereto, each bottle side forming wall being provided with a recess, and a die fitted in said recess and having a character delineating surface and a flat face extending at all'sides beyond the margins of said character de lineating surface and intersecting the corner angle forming walls bounding the same.

4. A mold for blowing glass bottles having character bearing sides separable from each other to form sign plates, said mold having a forming chamber provided with angularly related bottle side forming walls of a predetermined width and relatively narrower corner angle forming walls disposed between adjacent bottle side forming walls and arranged at oblique angles there to, each bottle side forming wall having a recess, and dies fitted in said recesses, each die being provided with a plurality of superposed character delineating surfaces and having a break-joint producing surface between the character delineating surfaces thereof. v

5. A mold having a forming chamber provided with an annular series of angularly related main forming walls and joint producing walls arranged between and lying at a greater radial distance vfrom the axis of the chamber than said main forming walls, each main forming wall being provided with arecess, and a die fitted in said recess and provided with superposed character delineating surfaces and break-joint producing recesses'between adjacent surfaces.

6. A moldcomprising a base plate having a recess, an openable and closable body mounted on said base plate and forming a mold chamber having angularly related sides, each provided with a recess, an openable and closable cover for said moldchamber, and removable character forming dies mounted in the recesses of the base plate and sides of the mold body.

7. A mold comprising a base plate having a recess therein, a character forming die detachably fitted in said recess, an open able and closable mold body supported upon said base plate, and forming a mold chamber having a series of angularly related sides each provided with a recess, dies mounted in said recesses, and an openable and closable cover. for the mold body.

8. A mold comprising a base plate, an openable and closable mold body mounted upon the base plate and forming a mold chamber having a series of angularly related sides, each provided with a recess, an openable and closable cover for the mold body, and dies adapted to be slidably inserted in and removed from said recesses When said mold cover is opened.

9. A mold comprising a base plate having a recess, a character forming. die detachably fitted in said recess, an openable and closable mold body mounted upon the base plate and forming a die chamber having a series of angularly related sides, each provided With a recess, charactermolding;cliesmletacllably mounted in said recesses, and an' openable and closable cover for the mold, the described portions of the mold having surfaces for forming weakened lines in a glass article produced in the mold marginally bounding portions of the glass formed by the die surfaces.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOSIAH H. XVILLIAMSL 

